Anime Royale
by Saberpilot
Summary: 42 Anime characters are placed on an island, forced to kill each other to death. The only means of surviving is to kill all 41 of their companions. Who will Live and who will Die? Bulletin 2 up.
1. Bulletin 1

**A/N: This fic is BLOODY. Just a head's up before anyone reads this. There will be character DEATHS, there will be gore, and there will be people DYING.**

Okay, now that that's out of the way- this is a product of myself and Shadow's (Gryphonlady on having watched Battle Royale, and after having finished our cosplay costumes for a con (Katsucon, to be specific) came up with the idea of what would happen if characters from different anime universes would be forced to undergo the same situation as those ninth grade students.

In order to put this together correctly, I researched a great deal of the Battle Royale concept (including purchasing/borrowing the original novelization as well as the novel-based manga) and placed characters with similar attributes to those in the novel. However, one thing that is largely different between the manga and this version is that after several discussions, Shadow and I agreed that the characters should keep their basic abilities (such as in the case of Vash, an angel arm, etc.) to make things more interesting.

BLAH! Now that all my ranting is out of the way, I hope that you enjoy this fic and please review. However, one thing I ask is that you don't ask that anyone survives/doesn't survive because I already have them planned out (like I said, I'm methodical in doing this, lol) With everything said, please enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: I own in no way or function any of the anime quoted from for this fic. This includes but is not limited to: Sailor Moon, Gunmetal Dream/Battle Angel Alita, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura, Digimon, Fushugi Yuugi, Kare Kano, Witch Hunter Robin, Ah! My Goddess, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fruits Basket, Tokyo Mew Mew, Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf's Rain, King of Bandit Jing, Pokemon, Hellsing, and Trigun.

* * *

"You're certain that you want to do this again?"

A blonde haired woman stood, her voice pointed towards a man sitting at a closeby desk. His white gloves were spotless, their fingers curled inward so as to prop his head off of the flat surface. A pair of brown eyes sat behind a pair of curved glasses, their pupils dialated as they watched a nearby television screen.

"Of course. The Committee wanted it this way." The commercial currently showing halted to show a reporter who was quickly blabbering about the results.

"But sir, your own son-"

The man seemed to start for a second, but he remained at his chair, collected. "He has nothing to do with this, and as I've said before, it's by impartial lottery. She's- she's going too, you know."

"She's easily replaced."

A moment of silence passed between the two adults as they watched the screen play out its scene, the reporter almost bouncing up and down in excitement as she rushed with the rest of the military troops through the long wet grasses of the island.

"-gone on for almost two days and five hours, and we already have a winner! No one expected this term's contestants to go by this quickly, but according to the sources we have, the winner apparently went ballistic and took action quickly-"

"She may be easily replaced, but _he's_ not," the man sighed. "If only-"

The reporter fought through the foilage, pushing back greenery as she ran on. Finally, the reporter stopped and turned to face the camera as the soldiers nearby stooped down to pick up what looked like a frail form on the ground.

"-Becky here, and we have the contest winner! It's-" the reporter turned to the soldiers, who lifted up a brown-haired head, while another one whispered in the reporter's ear, "it's a boy! His name is Ryuuichi- apparently an up and coming pop singer-" the reporter motioned to the camera, which focused on the young man, who was holding what looked like a stuffed pink rabbit in his arms. The stuffed animal had blood splatters on it, but that didn't seem to hold him back from cuddling it in his arms.

"-and he's awake! And alive-" Several guns fell from the body as the soldiers laid the young man in the car, which jolted the young man awake.

"If only what?" The blonde observing woman asked the man, continuing to watch the television.

"Nothing," the man answered, actually looking interested in the scene playing out on the screen, which was apparently solely focused on the young man now.

"...oh my god... what did I..." the young man looked as though he was about to cry. The reporter smiled and held out her microphone to him.

"How do you feel now, Mr. Ryuuichi? All your dreams of becoming a pop star will now come true, thanks to your winning the contest! Of course, the viewers were worried there for a bit; it looked like the young Griffith was going to give you a tough choice of either dying with him and holding you back, but it looks like you prevailed. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I... you say I'm going to be a pop star?" the brown-haired man asked, his conciousness obviously fading. He formed a weak smile before he passed out, holding his pink rabbit in his arms. The reporter then took over the camera's view once more.

"And there you have it! This Anime Royale is finished, with young Mr. Ryuuichi as the winner! He'll of course, be known as a pop star in his universe of Gravita-"

The glasses-wearing man pressed a button, and the screen fell silent. He glanced up at the blonde haired woman and raised an eyebrow.

"Is everything in preparation?"

"We're just about ready to commence with transportation of the individuals." The blonde woman took a step back, about to leave. She turned. "Am I assuming that I'm to get everyone on the list then? You're sure you don't want him replaced?"

The man pushed his glasses up on his nose and shook his head. "No. We will still have two pilots after he's gone, and I'm certain that with your science, you can revive him again. The Human Instrumentality Project can live without him as he is."

With the obvious dismissal, the woman left Gendo Ikari to sit alone. After a moment, he leaned forward in his seat, placing his hands on the desk and folding them. A small grin came upon his face.

"Time to let the games begin."

* * *

"...what...?"

A brown haired young girl yawned and pushed her bangs out of her eyes, confused. Blinking, she realized that she didn't recognize any of her surroundings- it certainly wasn't the bedroom she had in the Sohma family's quarters- and she wasn't laying on her bed for that matter.

Shaking her head, Honda Tohru pushed herself off of the wooden floor she seemed to be lain on and took a better look at her surroundings.

All about herself were bodies laying on the wooden floor- people sleeping; all of them ones she didn't recognize. The young woman bit her lip, then shook her head. Wherever she was, it must have been because of something happening at the Sohma's- at least, that's what always was the explanation if something strange happened. However, this time... felt different. Tohru hugged the picture of her mother that she'd had in her pocket and prayed that everything was going to be okay, just as it had in the past.

* * *

"Knives-!" A blonde young man breathed in and out in halted breaths as he shot up from sitting down. Seconds ago, eons ago... he'd been watching outside a ship window as Rem's ship had burned up in the atmosphere, and it was then that he had jumped up and tried to hit his brother... 

His damned awful wicked brother.

Vash pulled his arms around himself, confused. Where he was... looked nothing like the normal surroundings of the SEEDS ship... and it looked nothing like that dusty planet they'd been headed to, either. Glancing downward, he found himself shocked again.

His normal bodysuit was gone, replaced by what looked like a long red jacket. Glancing at his hands, he noticed that both were gloved. Blinking, he pulled both gloves off to see his normal enfleshed hands, and relief sank through him... although why, he didn't know. He hadn't lost an arm, after all...

It was just then that a boy wearing a white shirt moaned from beside him, and Vash jumped back in slight fear. When the young man didn't attack him, Vash sat up on his knees and gently shook his arm, trying to wake him up.

"...Asuka..." the boy groaned for a moment before blinking awake. When he did, he nearly jumped from seeing the blonde haired young man in the weird red outfit. He looked about him, his head jerking from side to side in fear like a meercat's.

"Dad? Where is Captain Misato? There's a man who's trying to- Asuka!"

"Shh!" Vash clamped his glove over the boy's mouth until the young man quieted down enough. After a raised eyebrow, the teenager let go of the young man's jaw, leaving him there to stare at the former SEEDS occupant.

"Who are you?" the young man asked, his eyes wide.

"Vash. You?"

"Ikari Shinji," the young man said, fearfully glancing around himself at the slumbering bodies. "Where-"

"I don't- I don't know," Vash answered truthfully, joining the somber young boy in looking around. Just then, a few more bodies moved around in the vicinity, and they looked at each other with fear, keeping silent.

* * *

Jyou woke up just as the two other Chosen Children on either side of him did. Taichi and Koushiro were both glancing at their surroundings, the redhead's eyes as slitted as Tai's were wide. The navy-haired Child bit his lip.

"Guys... where are we?"

"I have no clue," the Yagami answered, glancing around himself as well. To the left, what looked like a blonde kid in some weird red getup and another in a white dress shirt were talking quietly. To his right, a brown-haired girl was murmuring something to herself; probably praying, most likely.

"It seems to be..." the red-haired teenager paused, "it seems to be some sort of... school room." The other two teens looked at him with ludicrous expressions.

"No, seriously. Look there," he said, pointing to the farthest most wall, "those are sliding doors like we have in Tokyo," he murmured. Looking about himself, he placed a finger and thumb against his chin. "It looks like to me... like everyone around here is a teenager, at least."

"Are any of the other Chosen-" Jyou started, and Taichi shook his head in negative at the high schooler.

"Not that I can see. We seem to be the youngest here, actually," the bearer of the crest of courage answered. He pointed nearby to what looked like a group of girls, of which two or three were awakening. "Even of those girls, the youngest can't be less than thirteen-" He blinked, then realized he was blushing while looking at the black-haired girl.

Just then, more movement seemed to come from around the young men, and Jyou started.

"This does not look good."

* * *

"L-Li?" a light brown haired girl asked as the boy beside her groaned. The girl with sandy brown locks shook the boy awake. "Li! You need to wake up!"

"S-Sakura? What-" blinking, the young man saw for himself what she was pointing at. All around him, teenagers seemed to be groggily waking up from their dreams, either through natural process or being shook awake by others. He gazed up at the young woman in front of him and held out his arm to her.

"Don't- please don't cry," he smiled, looking into her expression. It was then that a glimmering light coming from around her neck got his attention, and he peered at it. Looking down at it, then up at her, he lightly touched it with his finger.

"Sakura, what's-"

"Where... where are we?" a nearby blonde young man started, being joined by what looked like a man with a long brown braid and another with darker hair. Li glanced at them, then Sakura.

"I think we-"

"This isn't the Vatican," another teenage girl stated, raising an eyebrow. Her hair were forced into what looked like gravity-defying handles on either side of her head. "...where the hell-"

"HUGO-" a young woman screamed upon waking up, only to find that the young man was right beside her. Shakingly, she embraced him. That woke up the entirety of those who were still sleeping, and within moments, approximately forty teenagers were all confusedly staring at each other and their surroundings.

"Um..." the blonde man beside Li and Sakura turned to them. "I wouldn't suppose you'd know where-"

"I'm sure he wouldn't suppose-" his short-haired companion grunted. "Quatre, I swear that-"

"Don't be down on him. Maybe they know," the braided companion halted the interrupting teen. He looked at Li and Sakura. "...do you know why we're here?"

"...no," Sakura stated with a shake of the head, then looked down at her throat, seeing the metal piece on it. "But... I think it must have something to do with this," she said, pointing at the piece. The blonde haired boy glanced downward and placed his own fingers on his neck, his face blanching.

"What the hell-"

"They're collars," another teen added from the back of the room. Dressed in a black suit, he appeared to be older than most of the other teens were, as well as less stressed about his situation. "It looks like someone wants us to stay here."

"But why?" a redhaired girl asked. "I mean, what-"

"Maybe... we should try and get out of here," Li suggested softly, rising up. He saw that another boy (whom he had to admit had the largest mound of brown hair he'd ever seen) had seemed to have the same idea, and was walking slowly to the door with a pair of red and navy haired teens.

"Then let's get going," the brown-haired boy stated. Shaking his head towards his red haired compatriot, he quickly tried to open the door, only to find a gun pointing straight at him.

"What- WHAT THE F-"

"Stay. In. Here." the holder of the gun told the young man.

"Taichi-" The navy haired boy whispered, his face as white as a sheet. Taichi fell to the floor and slowly crawled backwards away from the gun, his brown eyes wide. The girl with the head-sided pigtails stepped forward and stared at the gun as though it would melt before her eyes. After a moment, she blinked in confusion and stepped away from the doorway.

"I- I don't understand," she muttered. "Why don't my powers-"

Just then, a loud noise came from the outside of the room, past the windows. Sakura ran towards the blinds, accompanied by a redhaired girl, and proceeded to pull them up, to reveal a chopper outside, its lights pointedly straight at the teens.

* * *

"...Vash...?" a boy asked aloud of his red-clad companion, his voice loud against the chopper's noise. The blonde turned and looked at him.

"What- what, Shinji?"

"That-" Shinji pointed at the helicopter. As he did, a light blue haired girl walked over to Shinji and stood beside him. With a gulp, he looked back at her and then back to Vash. "That's- that's my father's-"

"That's NERV's logo," the girl supplied. Vash raised an eyebrow. "Who-"

"Her name's Rei," Shinji said, stepping back and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Rei," he said, focusing on her. "Rei, what's going on? What's this got to do with my father-"

"NO TALKING!" A voice suddenly sparked from the helicopter. "SIT DOWN AND BEHAVE. YOUR TEACHER IS COMING-"

"Your father set this up," Rei said simply. Shinji's right eye twitched, and he glanced at Vash.

"I don't like this."

"Gee, you think?" Vash asked, falling to the ground as he took a wrong step backwards. Around him, the rest of the teens were looking for an exit, but between the loud chopper outside and the soldiers with guns in the hallway, it ended up simply being chaos. A girl with long brown hair fell into his arms, shaking with fear.

"What- where- Mom!" she cried, then fell against his red-clad chest. Vash blinked, then cautiously put his arms around the girl, whose blue ribbons were flying against his face.

"Um... maybe things will get better?"

The girl looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "But- they have guns, and- where is Kyo? I can't find him or Yuki-"

"I- I don't know," Vash answered, then smiled and looked down at the girl. "But- here's this. My name's Vash... what's yours?"

"Tohru. Honda Tohru," she said, wiping tears from her eyes as he helped himself and she up from their awkward position on the floor. She suddenly gave a weak grin. "I'm sorry for seeming so weak, I just-" she swallowed a lump in her throat, and smiled. "The guns, and everything-"

"Don't worry about it," Rei told the both of them. "If Ikari is behind this, then everything is under control."

Shinji gave the blue-haired teen an incredulous glance. "You think that means it's UNDER CONTROL?"

"Who's Ikari?" A red haired teen interjected. He was followed by the brown and navy-haired teens that he'd been with earlier, the brown haired one rather shaky in his approach. Shinji bit his lip.

"He's- he's my fath-"

* * *

"SILENCE!" Suddenly a large shadow loomed from the doorway of the classroom, causing all of the students inside to back away from the doorway.

A man clad in a flowing red jacket and a large brimmed hat strode into the room, followed by a few of the soldiers, one of them recognizable by the long orangish braid that rested on his shoulder. After a few strides forward, he turned to face the teenagers, who were all backing away from the front of the classroom, save for the boy with the short brown hair.

After a moment, the brim of his hat lifted enough so that the teens could see a pair of red-tinted shades. Sakura turned towards Li, to see if he had any idea as to the man's identity, but his eyes were just as clouded from knowledge as hers. A nearby girl with dark skin and black hair cowered against a pink-haired boy in fright.

"Utena, what-"

"Be quiet, Anthy," the male voice loomed, and when the dark haired girl moved, Sakura could see that the pink haired 'boy' was actually a girl with very short hair, and blushed.

The man placed his hands onto the table, revealing a pair of white gloves. Sakura bit her lip, but watched as he carefully removed his hat and laid it onto the table before him. Long black hair tumbled downward onto his shoulders, and it was now clearly seen that he was wearing a long red jacket as well as a collared shirt fastened together at the top by a long ribbon.

"Welcome, class," he said, his words coming out with a slight hiss at the end. "I would surmise that you are all comfortable?"

"What's going on here?" The pink-haired Utena questioned, pushing herself up from kneeling next to the girl called Anthy and standing up. She pointed at the man at the desk. "Why are we here?"

The man smiled for a moment, showing off the large canines he had. He took a step towards the board and picked up a piece of chalk, grinning wildly as he did. With his hand, he wrote out a set of kanji on the board, then turned to face the teenagers in front of him.

"Does anyone recognize this script?"

Utena sat down, confused. Sakura looked to Li, who shook his head. All of the students in the room didn't seem to recognize the odd kanji in front of them.

One of the girls in the back, whose short blue hair seemed to match her same colored eyes, raised her hand. The man nodded and gestured towards her, and she cleared her throat nervously.

"That... that says, 'Anime Royale Act'," she said, standing up to report, then sitting down quickly.

"That's correct, Miss..." The man looked at a file in front of him, then nodded, "Mizuno." He raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone know what this law means?"

Everyone in the room seemed to be silent, including the girl who had answered. The man raised his hands out and scoffed at the youngsters in front of him. "Surely you must be joking. At least one person must know why you're all here."

None of the students responded, and the man tilted slightly forward, smiling.

"Well, then. Perhaps I should start from the beginning." He grinned, and the light seemed to reflect slightly off his glasses, showing off the red irises hiding behind him.

"Welcome," he started his speech, standing up and smiling with that all-too-toothy grin. "This is your ninth grade class. I am your Teacher, Alucard. Let's be friends."

He took a step to the left and nodded. "I realize that some of you may not realize what you are here for, so I shall explain. The Anime Royale Act-" he paused, nodding to the board, "was put into action because of a balance of power that has been tipped one too many times. Too many of you- heroes, whatever you will, have overcome odds impossible by any standards. As such, the AR act came into being so 'cull the flock' or so it were by reducing your numbers."

He smiled with a wide grin. "Today's assignment then, if you haven't guessed, is to kill each other." He glanced around the room. "All of you. Until there's only one of you left."

The young people in the classroom held their breath at the instructor's announcement. A girl in the back with brown hair began to sob.

"But-" the one named Utena stood up again, holding up her hand. She appeared confused. "What about our parents-"

Alucard laughed. "What about your parents? Most of them hardly get any screen time, or are never present in the first place!" He stared at her until she sat down. "They've all been notified of what is to happen, so don't worry your little head. And those of you with no parents, your closest family has been told," he said, boring his vision into Utena's blue eyes.

"I-I see," she said, quieting against the dark skinned girl. Sakura blinked, then mentally nodded to herself. They were just like her brother and Yukito.

"How-" Another young person, this one a female with dark black hair, raised her hand. "How were we chosen?"

Alucard smiled. "Impartial lottery, Miss Alita- simply put, we went through different lists of anime universes and chose ones out of a hat. People that were main characters or overstepping their boundaries in power were taken."

"But-" Alita stopped, speaking slowly as if for effect. "If that's the case, there's plenty of others-"

"We wanted young people," Alucard continued. "Not older ones- not that we don't trust their skills, but youths have greater vitality and strength."

"You bastard..." a short haired blonde that sat with a group of girls nearby said, her hands clenching into fists. She looked as though she might rise up, but was stopped by the aqua-haired girl on her side.

"Haruka... don't."

"That's right, Haruka- don't," Alucard smiled, his teeth glistening. "You should put all that energy towards the battlefield."

* * *

Vash sat back on his haunches in the awkward red jacket he'd been dressed in. Forced to... forced to _kill_ each other? What- what kind of madness was this? He glanced over at Shinji and bit his lip.

The young teen had his hands balled into fists, and was holding them against the sides of his head.

"Mustn't- I mustn't-"

Vash bit his lip, then glanced at the boys around himself. The boy named Jyou bit his lip and looked perilously afraid. With a nod to Vash and Shinji, he raised his hand and stood up. Alucard glanced at the young man, then nodded.

"If... if- well, I mean... if we win, do we get to go home?"

Everyone in the room glanced at the instructor. Alucard smiled, then nodded.

"Sure. But only if everyone else here is dead."

Jyou fell back onto the floor, shocked, but more shocked to hear that it was confirmed what they had to do rather than anything else. He glanced at his companions Koushiro and Taichi and gulped.

"What..."

Koushiro shook his head, then gave Jyou a signal to calm down. Taichi nodded at the young man, holding his hand out flat towards the teen. Jyou intook a breath, then nodded. Vash then glanced back at Shinji, whose anger seemed to be surmounting.

"Damn it... Father... FATHER!" Shinji stood up and glared at Alucard. "My FATHER did this, didn't he? All the NERV symbols everywhere- you can't fool me- Where is he? WHERE IS MY FATHER?"

Alucard raised an eyebrow, then looked down his list. "You're Ikari Shinji, correct?"

"Yes," Shinji answered. Rei glanced at the young man, her red eyes unclear of what she was feeling.

The teacher glanced at the young man. "Perhaps I did not make myself clear. You will be killing each other to the death until there's only one of you left."

"I want to see my FATHER!" Shinji bellowed.

Aucard sighed, then glanced at the red-haired soldier with the long braid. "Pip?"

"Certainly, Sir."

The armed man walked up to Shinji and took him roughly by the shoulders. The teen's eyes grew wide, and Vash made a move as to stop the man, but Koushiro held him back with his hand, giving him a hopeful smile- maybe everything would be okay.

"Ikari, you seem to think that you should get some special preference just because your father's the director of this program," Alucard drawled on. "And this insubordination complex you seem to have will just not do if you are to participate in this program."

Shinji held his breath until Alucard continued.

"This game makes everyone in here equals, do you understand? It removes natural advantages between each other by making each of you no more or less important than another. This is your only warning. Sit down and be quiet, or else you will not even see the battlefield. Do I make myself clear?"

Vash and Koushiro glanced at each other once, afraid that Shinji would stand up against this threat. Thankfully, Shinji was a coward, and nodded with what little courage he did seem to have. The officer grinned and shoved him back towards the little grouping of young adults that he'd been with previously. Vash caught the young man, then looked into his eyes.

"...you okay?" he mouthed.

Shinji nodded shakily.

"Now then. If we have no other objections," Alucard stated, holding his palms out, "Then it is time for the instructional video."

"Instructional video...?" the girl with the handles-like hairdo asked, blinking.

"That's right," Alucard confirmed. He then glanced at all of them and pointed. "In your seats. Now."

Some of the young adults seemed to hesitate for a moment, but did as they were told.

* * *

Alita held her breath, watching the man order herself and the other young adults into their seats. After a moment, she nodded to Hugo, and both of them quietly slipped into seats. A few seconds ago, unnoticed by the rest of her peers, she'd tried to call on her most angered attack, to see if she could break herself and Hugo out of this disaster.

Her Panzer Kunzt had not even flickered for a second- no sign of blue light, no electric sparks. After a moment of double-checking, she'd sworn underneath her breath. Whatever was keeping them in here was also keeping her abilities in check.

She glanced around, then saw the young woman who was wearing that large black dress -how constraining- she thought to herself, then blinked. As she sat at her desk, she seemed to be furrowing her brow in concentration. As Alucard turned around towards the soldiers, who were bringing in a television, Alita hissed at the girl.

"Hey- you-"

"Huh?" The brown haired girl asked, blinking before she hushed herself and stared at Alita. "What?" she whispered quietly.

"I'm guessing- your powers not working too?"

"You have-" the other girl sat for a moment, hushing up as Alucard glanced back their way, then waited until he turned back about, directing the soldiers on what to move where. "You have powers too?"

Alita nodded. "My Panzer Kunzt isn't working. You?"

"I'm a Hunter, and my fire isn't-," she told the cyborg girl with a slight cutoff, then held out her hand slightly. "I'm - I'm Robin. Robin Sena."

"...Alita," the girl answered, taking her hand quietly, then returning back to a seated position. She nodded towards Hugo, who had been listening intently. "And that's Hugo."

"Pleased to meet you," Robin said quietly before Alucard cleared his throat. Staring up at the teacher, she and Alita faced forward in attention. Glancing past Hugo, the cyborg saw a young man in a red jacket watching the teacher with what could only be described as intense anger. Blinking, Alita scrutinized him. What was a _kid_ doing here? He couldn't be older than twelve!

"Ah-hem." Alucard cleared his throat again.

* * *

Vash glanced over at his new acquaintance Ikari Shinji as Alucard continued to speak. "This part here is a film that we have to show you- but before we do..." Shinji didn't look so good- he looked like he was about ready to snap.

Alucard gestured towards the same red-haired soldier to go out for a moment. Koushiro glanced at Vash and Taichi, just as confused as the rest of them.

Their question was soon answered as the soldier returned with what looked like a gurney that was covered by a bedsheet. Red splotches seemed to form on the outside of the sheet, and Vash bit his teeth back. It seemed... he got this odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, as though he'd seen this before... even though he couldn't place where.

"Remove it, Commander Pip."

The officer did as ordered, and the sheet came off within seconds. Vash held his breath, then clenched his teeth as he saw the bloody scene before him.

A man with golden hair lay on the gurney, his blonde hair streaked with a dark sticky substance that came from a deep hole on his left temple. His body was riddled with bulletholes and had been callously ravaged by hands, most likely to check his deceased state.

Three girls in the back screamed, including the one with brown curls that Vash had noticed earlier. It was then that he noticed Shinji. The young man was standing up, heavily breathing with anger. Large beads of sweat ran down his forehead.

"Ikari, don't-" Vash said, only to be ignored.

"This man," Alucard started in a very uncaring manner, "was meant to be your instructor. However, he would not agree to the terms of this contest, and so we had to silence him."

"Silence- you mean KILL?" Shinji yelled, his hands balled into fists. "Did you even know his NAME?"

"It was Onizuka Eikichi, " the instructor said carefully, glancing at his gloves. His red eyes then pierced Shinji's own. "Didn't I tell you to sit down earlier?"

"This is LUDICROUS- where's my father? Why won't he come out and tell me himself why he's doing this? What does this have to do with NERV? The Angels? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Alucard shook his head, 'tsk-tsking'. He nodded to his Commander once again. "Pip?"

The man went forward towards Shinji. The young man tried to get away from him, but the soldier was stronger. Within a matter of seconds, he was holding him from the back, both his arms forced back by the stronger, older man's. Alucard sighed for a moment, then stood up, pulling a device of some sorts out of his pocket.

"I told you that if you didn't behave, you'd regret it," Alucard said, taking the device and holding it towards Shinji. Vash gulped as he saw the screen on Shinji's neck start to pulsate red.

Pip then let go of the student, who glanced around. Shinji turned towards Alucard. "What did you DO TO ME?"

"Activated the self-destruction on your collar. Students, I'd get away if I were you," Alucard said off-handedly to the other teens.

Shinji's eyes balled in terror, and he clutched at the neckpiece, trying in vain to remove it from his throat. After a few moments, the glowing red light began to increase in pace, and he fell onto his knees, tears in his eyes. He glanced around.

Most of the students had backed away from the young man, including the girl named Rei that he'd been talking to earlier. Vash swallowed as he saw Shinji turn his frightened eyes towards the young Plant.

"Vash-" he called, holding his hand out to him.

"Shinji-" Vash whispered back, beginning to reach with a gloved hand of his own-

Only to pull it back to cover his eyes as the collar on Shinji's neck exploded, causing a stream of blood to jump into the air and surrounding area. It spewed for a few moments, Shinji's body jerking as the liquid in his body left in a forced exit. After a few moments, the jerking stopped, and he fell back onto the ground, his white dress shirt now dyed a permanent red from his blood.

A girl with dark red hair screamed, falling against a young man in a black school uniform. "Arima..." He shushed her, holding her hand as tightly as he could between their desks. Alucard shook his finger. "Now- none of you leave your seats, okay? It's time to watch the movie."

Vash's anger seemed to surmount, and he felt as he had before he'd come here- unbridled rage flowing through his veins- this time directed at the Instructor Alucard rather than Knives. He made a move as though to stand up, but felt an arm clutch at one of the odd red straps on this overly-complicated coat he now wore. Turning back, he saw the young man called Koushiro leaning across his desk holding the piece of leather.

"Not now," he mouthed. Vash swallowed. Those eyes were filled with as much anger as they were intelligence. After a moment of cooling down, he sat down in his seat.

Alucard watched the exchange, then raised an eyebrow behind his red-colored glasses.

"Are you done, Mr. Stampede?"

"Stampede?" Vash asked, blinking.

"Oh, I'm sorry- I forgot that we removed you before you landed on Gunsmoke-" Alucard said, glancing at his roster once again. "Mr. Vash. Are you done?"

"Yes," Vash answered, glaring at him with a cold anger. Slight confusion played through his mind. 'Gunsmoke'? What the hell was that...?

"Then let's start watching the video. Lights-" Alucard said, pointing towards one of the soldiers. Just as the darkness started to swallow his surroundings, Vash glanced back towards the now-immobile body of Ikari Shinji and swallowed. Whatever hell Knives had planned to inflict upon the humans on the SEEDS ships was nothing in comparison to what was about to happen here.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he recovered enough to look straight ahead at the television that Alucard had just turned on.

He could only pray at this point.

* * *

STUDENT(S) BOY #5 IKARI SHINJI DEAD  
41 STUDENTS REMAINING

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter. I will try and update this as often as possible, probably about once a month. Please R/R. 


	2. Bulletin 2

A/N: No reviews yet, but here's to hoping. Even though this is under 'miscellaneous', it is actually a pretty original idea, so far as I've looked up. :P Here's to hoping some more survive- but of course they won't, as this is _Anime Royale_.

* * *

Usagi glanced at her friends and now apparently 'classmates' as the instructor started the video. Only half an hour ago, she'd been hanging out with the girls and talking about the newest Three Lights video that Seiya had been telling her about. 

Ami had been commenting on how they still hadn't figured out the Starlight's identities, while Minako had been glorifying the Three Lights video with her. Mokoto had been laughing and whipping up some of her delicious cakes, while Rei had been commenting on the odd vibes she'd been getting from the Starlights.

It seemed like an entire world away. Glancing around, she noticed that Haruka, who she'd only noted was here about five minutes ago, was clutching her fists together as she watched the front of the classroom.

That boy- had his name been Shinji? She thought it had- he'd just... _died_ like it was nothing- she couldn't get that image of his tear-stained cheeks as he'd reached for that red-dressed young man out of her mind. Tears fell down her own cheeks. Forced to fight- forced to fight _until the death_? It sounded like something out of a bad horror novel that Ami had been talking about - something... Lord of the Flies, that had been it. About that group of british children who had ended up killing each other because they'd been left alone...

She shivered, then bit her lip. She wished Mamoru was here...

* * *

The dark haired young man who sat in the middle of the class sighed. He'd seen humans killed before- he'd _killed_ them before, even. However... each time that Kiba tried to change back to his wolf form so that he could just shrug off the image of the boy's neck exploding... something wouldn't let him. That collar they'd stuck on him... that had to be it. 

Glancing over, he saw Hige and Toboe. Hige looked surly about the entire situation, and Toboe... well, this was probably going to break the pup.

Yawning slightly, he glanced over towards one of the seats and saw a young man who didn't seem particularly interested in what was going on. His dark eyes and brown hair seemed muted against the backdrop of his expression- it almost seemed as though there was no one at home inside his mind.

With a blink, Kiba sighed, crossing his arms and staring up front. He wanted this to be done with as soon as possible. He had Paradise to find.

Alucard snapped his fingers, and suddenly the television sparked to life, showing a green screen. He sat on the desk and nodded.

"Now. All of you. Watch this."

* * *

Utena glanced at Anthy, then turned her wide blue eyes to the screen. She didn't like this one bit, but... why get killed like that kid had? 

"Moshi moshi!" A cheerful voice echoed from the screen. Suddenly a strawberry blonde woman appeared on the screen, happily grinning as she waved. Utena swallowed when she saw that the woman's eyes were as red as Alucard's. Who the hell _were_ these people?

"Hello," Alucard responded in a drawling voice.

She saluted the people watching. As she spoke, a large pair of canines revealed themselves. "Hello, students! You have all been chosen as this year's contestants in the Anime Royale! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Police Girl," Alucard responded, nodding slightly. He glanced back at the class. "It _is_ an honor."

"Now students," the young woman said with a smile, "You've all been chosen for a very special purpose, as Mast- Alucard," she seemed to stumble over the words, "has told you. Since you're all here, you're already all winners, of a sort!" She held out a finger and winked. "One of you lucky students will get to have your dreams come true as the winner of the contest!"

Utena looked around. A few of the people appeared as dubious as she felt.

"Now I should probably explain a few things," the woman continued, disappearing into a corner as a map appeared onscreen.

"This is the island you will be playing on," she said, gesturing towards the map. "It has been completely cleared out and there is no one here! Each area of the island has been split up into different areas accordingly. This here-" she pointed at a particular one, "is where you are now, the school!"

This chick is _waaaay_ too cheerful, Utena inwardly growled.

"Remember this area, because after you leave this room you will not be permitted to return or you will have a problem with your collars- which I should probably explain!" She happily cried, returning to the main screen's focus.

* * *

Koushiro watched the movie, biting his lip as he watched. Someone had this girl by the neck- that, or she was on speed 24/7. No way someone could be so callously happy about death unless something was up. 

"The collars on your neck are one hundred percent shock, break, and waterproof!" She said with a happy grin. "They're also solid metal and- that's right," she said, doing a little twirl with her finger, "permanent!"

A few of the student's hands went up to their necks, Taichi and Jyou's included. The kid he'd met named Duo was moving the thing around, trying to see if he could slip it loose.

"Now you should know a few things about them," the woman continued. "They're placed on your neck for several reasons- first off, they're there so we can keep track of you!"

Koushiro rolled his eyes. Either heartbeat or movement sensors. One of the two had to be it.

"They're also on there for another reasons- as the game progresses, places on the map will be made 'off-limits' by your instructor Mas- Alucard," she said, correcting herself yet again. "The purpose of these areas is to keep the game and you guys moving! So, if you stay in one area for far too long," she gestured with her hands towards a fake collar she wore on her neck, "then we'll send radio signals to your specific collar, which in turn will make the explosives in your collar go BOOM!" she said, flicking her fingers out. "They'll explode!"

So _that_ was what had happened to the boy Shinji. Koushiro intook a breath, and half the class jumped, removing their fingers from the collars they'd just been touching.

"Don't try and remove them either," she cheerfully stated, "or the same thing can be done! So don't try and do that, or else we'll be sad, okay?" she asked, making a pouting face.

Koushiro's eyes twitched. Was this woman _for real_?

* * *

Alita wished she could have jumped up and punched out the television- but she was almost certain that it'd earn an explosion from her collar if she had done so. And genius though Ido was, she was altogether certain that if her brain was cut from any sort of oxygen, she'd be permanently out of any salveagable condition for him to fix. 

The instructor Alucard stopped the tape for a moment and smiled- an extremely eerie smile at that.

"Now what she was talking about is exactly what happened to Mr. Ikari. I would hope that none of you would wish to relive that experience, so please," he paused, "don't try anything stupid."

He pressed play again, and Alita sighed. The girl started to come on the screen, just as the girl with the light blue hair- what was her name again? She'd overheard it earlier... Rei, was it?- leaned over to say something to another one of the students. Alucard's red eyes saw the movement, and with a movement that was almost invisible, threw something.

"What the hell...?" Alita whispered, then jerked back in her seat. She saw the young woman fall forward onto her desk, a knife deeply implanted in her forehead.

One of the other girls who'd been sitting nearby started to whimper. Apparently she'd been hit by the flying knife, and there was a deep gash on her arm.

"I said. No. TALKING," Alucard hissed again, his eyes dangerously flickering. He then proceeded to calmly walk forward and pick out the knife from her forehead. The girl that Rei'd been trying to converse with, a girl with short brown and wide eyes, shirked back and let out a silent scream. The Teacher grinned, then turned back to face the class.

"Well. Shall we continue with the movie?"

Alita swallowed, but watched as none of the students said a word. Alucard grinned, then turned the movie on once again.

* * *

STUDENT(S) GIRL #3 AYANAMI REI DEAD 40 STUDENTS REMAINING

* * *

"Now," the woman on the screen said, talking to the students as though she was speaking individually to them, "Each of you will recieve a pack before you leave this room to go on your killing spree!" 

The Sohma girl named Rin sighed as she watched the film. Couldn't she just spit out what she was going to say like a normal person? Glancing over to the left, she noted that Akito appeared extremely bored with all of this. Didn't he _get it_? She glanced the other way towards that Tohru girl.

God, she looked as though_she_ was going to pee her pants. At least someone in this room wasn't scared to look like a coward.

"Each pack will have a few items in it that you will need," she said with a wide, toothy grin. She pulled things out from what looked like a green pack. "A pencil with a copy of the island's map," the woman explained, showcasing the items, "Some water, some food," she pulled out a few of the items, "as well as a compass, flashlight, and some other things to help you that you might want to check out later."

Great. Summer camp items. Big help for a horse-cursed Sohma girl.

"Each pack will also come with a weapon- randomly selected, of course," the girl said, smiling widely. She pulled an axe out of the pack and grinned, 'oohing' as she did so.

"Wow! This one's super lucky!"

Rin wanted to puke. This happiness about death was all too sickening for her taste.

"So be sure to work hard and make your parents proud," the woman said. She seemed to be wrapping up. "Oh- one last rule," she said, winking. "If no one is killed within twenty-four hours- at any given time- we turn the satillites on here at the school and make _everyone's_ collar explode! That means no one wins!" She looked sad, then gave a thumbs up. "All of you fight hard!" She encouraged, punching the air with a fist. Alucard then stopped the movie.

"Well. I think that's about all the pleasantries we need. Why not get started?"

Rin glanced at her classmates, certain that she was not the only one uncomfortable with this situation. She glanced over at the girl who was still bleeding from where the knife had hit her in the arm- she didn't know the girl's name- and raised her hand.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Miss... Sohma, I believe it is?"

"Yes, well, I was wondering- could you give her-" she nodded towards the bleeding young woman, "some medical treatment before we begin? That way it's fair? I mean, that way we start out on equal footing?"

A couple of the kids gave very hesitant nods, including a young man with short blonde hair that was sitting nearby her. Alucard smiled.

"If you are to start out on equal footing, then I believe I should just kill her, don't you think? That way you don't have to deal with any dead weight. If that's what you want, Miss Sohma-" he reached into his jacket, pulling out what looked like a long silver gun. Rin panicked and shook her head.

"No, no, that's okay. I'm sure she'll be fine," she smiled. "Don't want to start with any less than we already have, do we?" she swallowed. She was trying to conciously make her face devoid of any emotion, praying that Alucard didn't carry out his offer.

The instructor grinned. "Well, that's fine then. We'll just let her have a chance like all the rest of you, now won't we?" Alucard placed his gun back into his jacket, then faced his palms out. "Are there any more questions?"

* * *

Edward grumbled inwardly and pushed his blonde braid out of the way. He didn't know why the hell he was here in the first place, nor did he like this idea of being someone's entertainment in this sick game. However, if he was going to have to play this... 

A white gloved hand went up into the air.

"Yes?" Alucard asked.

"Will we be allowed to use our... abilities?" he asked. He stated the last word carefully, almost entirely certain that he was not the only one here to use different forms of alchemy. Different universes or no, some things remained the same.

"Ah! Yes, I'd almost forgotten," Alucard smiled, then gestured about him. "This school has a dampener field on it. Any forms of magic, psychic ability, or any form of special 'ability', and yes, that includes alchemy, in case you haven't noticed, Master Edward," he nodded, his canines showing themselves rather prominantly, "are prohibited within the perimeters here. Once you leave the building, however..."

He placed his hands on the table and grinned widely. "...anything is game."

The Elric nodded thoughtfully, then stared at Alucard with his golden eyes. "I understand."

The instructor nodded to him, then glanced about the class. "Are there any _more_ questions? I assume that you're all anxious to get this contest underway..."

Edward's eyes turned to slits. He had to be the winner of this contest. Al's future depended on him -a future that he had to help create for his younger brother before he died. And he did not intend to die here.

* * *

"Well then. If there are no more questions," Alucard stated with a wide smile on his face, "Then I think it's time for you to get moving." He motioned towards the officer, Pip, who nodded and gave a curt half-bow. Once having done so, he gestured for a line of officers to walk in, a few of them pushing what looked like a giant cart into the room. 

"We'll choose randomly, I think, who begins..." Alucard said to no one in particular. He then looked at his 'students'. "Each of you is to take one of these bags each. Those of you who have packs with you with personal items, you may take them as well. Let's see here..." He glanced down his list and stopped. "Ah! I believe we'll start-" He reached over and pressed play for the VCR.

"Hige!" the strawberry blonde on the television called with her chipper smile.

"Here!" Hige said, calling out before thinking as he stood up. He swallowed, glancing around the classroom. Toboe stared at him with wide eyes from his own seat, and Kiba just glanced away.

Swallowing again, the tawny-haired wolf walked to the front of the classroom and took the bag offered to him, then stumbled out of the room in the direction that the soldiers directed him.

"Tenou Haruka!"

The short-cropped blonde stood up and gave a curt nod. She squeezed her lover's hand once before walking to the front of the classroom. Once she was there, she took her pack and raised it above her head before heading out.

"Hugo!"

The dark-haired young man stood up as Alita did, and embraced her in a tight hug, whispering words of strength into his Angel's ears until Alucard cleared his throat.

"Hugo. We're waiting."

The man glanced deeply into Alita's eyes, then let go of her hand, turning away so that she would not see the tears welling in his eyes. Making his way to the front of the room, he took his pack and walked out, keeping his head down as he walked out of the classroom.

"Usagi Tsukino!"

"Do you think it'll be me next?" Jyou asked his Chosen Children comrades as they sat in their seats. He kept his voice almost to a non-verbal level, fearing Alucard's wrath. His eyes darted between Taichi's serious expression and Koushiro's almost thoughtful one, hoping that one of them could give him a concrete answer. Anxious, he made as though to speak again, only to have Koushiro wave his hand in a silencing gesture.

"Keep calm. We'll meet outside of this place, just make sure you keep running..."

"Koushiro Izumi!"

"That's my line," the redhead winked. "Keep out of trouble and I'll see you guys down the road." He pulled a case that was sitting on the underside of his desk with him, then walked to the front. He accepted his duffel bag of stuff and walked out, giving a slight nod as he left.

"Tohru Honda!"

As the brown-haired girl with pigtails walked to the front of the room, Jyou felt a tug on his sleeve. Glancing back, he saw the long-braided Duo giving him a serious stare.

"That kid. Izumi. Was that a laptop he had with him?"

Jyou and Taichi exchanged glances, then nodded cautiously, each keeping an eye on the instructor in the front of the classroom. Koushiro never went anywhere without some form of computer. Duo grinned slightly.

"Good. I'll have to try and meet up with you guys later. If I'm thinking along the right track, and I bet I am, he's going to be the one to get us all out of this mess." With that, he settled back down into his seat, leaving Jyou and Taichi to exchange wondering glances of their own.

"Bandit Jing!"

A young man wearing an orange jacket walked to the front of the room with a slight grin on his face. A bird that sat on his arm kept looking back and right around the classroom as he accepted his bag and left.

"Makoto Kino!"

* * *

Skuld glanced nervously around the classroom. So far the only people she'd talked to were that Winry girl and that wierd kid that called himself 'Kish'. Neither of them seemed to be handling the situation well, but at least they seemed to be holding together better than Skuld was. 

"Ash Ketchum!"

Glancing about, she pulled her legs in underneath the flat surface of the desk and held them against herself. She was only a young goddess, and Noble Scarlet wasn't very old, a year at most. Urd and Belldandy were nowhere in sight; even Keiichi wasn't around. Closing her eyes, the young goddess prayed to God that she would be a good servant of his if only he would take her away from this madness.

"Kaiou Michiru!"

She didn't know when the tears started to flow; all she knew was that she felt a gentle hand touching her elbow. Surprised, Skuld looked up to see the smiling face of a long-haired blonde girl, offering her a tissue. With a nod of thanks, Skuld took the paper towlette and blew her nose, then gave a weak smile to the girl.

"I'm Minako. What's your name?"

"Skuld."

"Kiba!"

"That's an interesting name," the girl smiled half-heartedly. She then reached over and squeezed Skuld's hand. "Probably better than a lot of the weird ones you're hearing here, huh?"

Skuld gave a small laugh, then nodded. Remembering to be almost-silent, she whispered back, "Where are you from?"

"We're from Earth- well, I guess... an Earth where there are sailor soldiers," Minako smiled. She then rolled her eyes. "Not that being one in this game will probably give us a lot of advantage."

"Miyaka!"

"Aren't you scared?" Skuld asked, her eyes wide. "Aren't you afraid to die? I mean... I don't want to die- I'm still young! And if I'm not here, there won't be anyone to take care of Pantei or Urd or keep Keiichi from acting stupid around Belldandy!" She sniffed. "I'm not even a really powerful goddess like my sisters, but-"

"You're a goddess?" Minako asked with a smile. "Wow... that's so cool." She grinned widely. "I'm a sailor soldier, like I said. I go by the name of Sailor V, or Venus."

"Sailor... V?"

"Jyou Kido!"

Skuld's eyes went wide. "But- there's a whole television series about you, and you're- you're famous. Not like a young goddess like me; my angel isn't even that old. She's so little." She glanced down at her knees, biting her lip.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Minako smiled. "I'm flattered that a -Goddess- has heard of me! And as for being scared..." she glanced back at the other friends of hers who were also gathered in nearby desks, "well, it's no different from dying for a cause I believe in. Even if this is not how I wanted to die, I can hope that in my next life, I'll come back and make sure that this never happens again to anyone else."

"Miyazawa Yukino!"

Skuld was about to answer when she saw the girl whose name was called tear up as she pushed her desk away. With a set of already-crying eyes, she walked to the front of the room. One of the soldiers threw her bag at her. Scowling unhappily, Yukino took the bag and shoved it back into the soldier's arms, then left, still crying.

"That's... she's going to be unarmed!" Skuld said with wide eyes. She saw the young man who had been holding her before that weeping unapologetically into his hand. "She's going to die from the start!"

"Li Syaoran!"

"Nah," Minako smiled. "She'll be fine. If you just believe that things will be okay, then they will be. I'm sure there's a way out of this. There _has_ to be. I doubt that anyone, God or-" she winked at Skuld, who blushed, "-Goddess, would let this kind of thing go on for long without stopping it."

"You really think so?" Skuld asked, her eyes wide.

"Ami Mizuno!"

Blinking away tears as one of the people who was obviously a friend of hers rose and walked to the front, Minako nodded. "I have to. Otherwise we have no hope, and I will not believe that there is no hope in this world."

Skuld sat back in her chair and prayed again. Maybe, if she prayed for hope... maybe she could go home and be with her family again. Closing her eyes, she kept praying.

* * *

Vash watched with half-opened eyes as most of the 'students' in the classroom walked forward and took their bags. Glancing back at Shinji's body, he shivered. How could _anyone_ go through what they were going through? 

"Nicholas D. Wolfwood!"

He watched for a moment as the young man dressed somberly in a dark suit glanced away whenever he'd been called. Glancing back up towards Alucard, he saw the instructor bite his large canines together.

"Wolfwood!"

With a quick stare torwards the teacher, the young man jumped off the seat he'd been sitting on and walked casually towards the front of the class. He took his bag and walked out of the room. Vash stared with wide blue eyes at how non-chalantly the young man exited.

"Utena Tenjou!"

The pink-haired girl went to the front of the classroom and took her bag, glancing at it for a minute before she walked out. Alucard glanced back towards the screen and gave an expression of boredom, sighing.

"Heero Yuy!" the prozak-happy girl on the screen called out.

Just as the serious faced young man was about to stand up, the young man named Wolfwood walked back into the classroom and slammed his pack onto the ground. Pip glanced back at Alucard, looking for an order, but Alucard gave a slight shake of his head. Wolfwood stared at Pip and pointed to another one of the packs in the soldier's pile.

"That's mine," he said, holding his hand out. The boy named Heero stared at him with a cold stare as he walked to the front. He took a step towards Wolfwood when Alucard laughed, nodding to the nearby soldier to give Wolfwood the bag he wanted. He gestured towards the class.

"You can probably tell, but these two are dangerous. If I were any of you, I'd watch myself when I'd be around them."

Both the young men glared at the man in red, but Wolfwood turned his gaze first, taking his bag and heading out the door. Heero grabbed the sack that he was offered and strided out the door calmly, keeping his eyes blank as they had been earlier. The Teacher chuckled to himself, then cleared his throat.

"Well. We should continue, no?"

He activated the movie again, which began to call out student's names once more.

"Sakura Kinomoto!"

Blinking, Vash watched as the young girl stood up. The top of her arm was still bleeding from the knife that had silenced Ayanami, and she looked extremely pale, trembling in fear. Vash stopped her for a moment and locked eyes with her, his own blue meeting her green eyes. An overwhelming feeling of protectiveness filled him, and as he stared into those eyes, he knew that he had to do something- anything- to keep this girl safe.

"Outside- I'll meet you," he whispered.

She glanced at him, then swallowed and nodded. Holding her wounded arm with her opposite arm, she walked to the front and took the bag given to her. Glancing back at Vash, she nodded and walked out the door.

"Vash the Stampede!"

Still unsure of what 'the Stampede' entailed, Vash stopped in mid-rise. He glanced back towards the body of the boy named Shinji, who laid on the ground unmoving. His eyes were distant and cold, staring into nothingness. Vash swallowed a mouthful of bile that rose from the back of his throat and stared up at Alucard, his eyes dangerously angry.

The red-jacketed instructor's eyes turned towards Vash's, and he peered directly into them. "Mr. Vash. It's your turn to go."

"Forgive me," Vash said, about to make an acidic comment. He stopped, however, when he reminded himself of Shinji's fate and the promise he'd made to the girl named Sakura. He then turned to Alucard and swallowed. "I'd just- may I close his eyes?" he asked, gesturing torwards Shinji.

Alucard smiled, his long canines showing themselves off. "You have that right, yes."

Vash stood up and stepped over towards Shinji. Swallowing the revulsion that tried to force its way up his throat from seeing the boy's state, he placed his hands overtop of his eyelids and gently let them slide downwards. Standing up, he nodded at his work, seeing Shinji's contorted face at least somewhat in peace.

Swallowing the saliva that was attempting to rise in his throat, Vash turned about and headed towards the front of the classroom, giving Alucard a glance before he took the bag given to him by the soldier Pip. Glancing back at the long-braided young man, he turned and headed out the door, closing his eyes in silent regret as he ran out the doorway.

"Skuld!"

Vash ran as fast as he could out the doorway of the school building, trying not to look behind him as those red tails of his new jacket followed him. He searched the area for the brown-haired girl that he'd made a promise her. However, no matter how much he glanced around, he couldn't see any sign of the young woman.

It wasn't until later on that he would realize how close he was to death as something in the back of his mind told him to take a step to the right.

Just as he did, he saw an arrow fly to the ground right beside him.

Vash nearly jumped into the air, then paused when he heard a strangled cry to his right. Turning his head, he paled when he saw a girl with blonde hair spun up into odd pigtails holding out her arms towards him. In the middle of her throat stuck out an arrow that made the odd gurgling coming from her throat sound raw.

"Help- Please-"

The red-clad young man stepped away from the girl, his eyes wide with fright as he backed away. Still the young woman came forward, her blue eyes open in fear as tears poured from them. Finally her pupils seemed to dialate blankly, and she fell forward with a thud onto the ground, her mouth sounding out one last word as she died.

"Ma-mo-ru.."

Another arrow flew by, hitting the fallen young woman in the back. Vash turned about and glanced around. His eyes finally settled on the slightly heavyset young man holding what appeared to be a crossbow, standing atop a nearby hill.

"What- why did you do that?" Vash asked the young man, who turned his orange-haired head towards him.

"What- who-" Hige glanced over towards the blonde kid who was asking him about the girl. He held out his crossbow and stared at the young man with a hard glare, even though his limbs were shaking as he did so. "You! Why are you yelling at me? She could've killed me!"

"She wasn't even holding a weapon!" Vash cried, pointing at the corpse. "Why did you have to kill her?"

"I- I have to get to Paradise. I have to find me some nice bitch and settle down there. I can't- I can't not survive this game. So- it was either me or her. And- and I wanted to survive more."

"So you killed her?"

"That's right," the orange-haired young man said. It was then that Vash's vision seemed to blur, because it almost seemed for a moment as though an orange-furred wolf was standing before him instead of the young man. Vash took a step back, confused.

"What- you can- you can see my-" the young man said trepidaciously, gritting his teeth. With a feral yell, he screamed and shot his crossbow.

Vash, afraid but letting his physical instincts take over, lept to the side and caught the arrow before it could pierce his new red outfit. He then threw the weapon back towards the orange-haired teen, then turned to run.

He heard the boy's groan as he fell to the ground- apparently the arrow had hit him at such an angle as to knock him unconcious- then blinked as he saw the young woman he'd approached earlier come out from behind a tree. With a quick nod, Vash held out his hand to the girl. She grasped it and both of them ran towards the east, trying to get as far away from the school as possible.

* * *

STUDENT(S) GIRL # 8 TSUKINO USAGI DEAD 39 STUDENTS REMAINING

* * *

Hige awoke with a groan. That blonde haired kid- he didn't know his name- almost any of the peoples' names in this thing since he'd been the first to leave- he'd taken one of his arrows from the air and thrown it back as though it were nothing. And then there was the situation of how he'd seen through the illusion to hide his wolf-ness. In the school, the dampener had kept his wolf form hidden. Out here, he'd been hiding it. 

But that kid had seen right through it.

Slowly sitting up, the wolf glanced around for the weapon he'd been given from his pack. Blinking, he searched the ground, not finding it anywhere.

However, Hige would never find it.

A few seconds after looking, he fell onto the ground, not realizing as he died that there was an arrow gone straight through him from his back.

* * *

STUDENT(S) BOY #3 HIGE DEAD 38 STUDENTS REMAINING

* * *

Akito Sohma blinked. He'd just come out of the school and had noted the young man already lying on the ground. Being curious, and having assumed him for already deceased, he'd picked up the young man's weapon. 

He'd been relieved to see that it was a crossbow- there were silver arrows in a container the kid carried on his back. A large welt was rising on his forehead- apparently he'd been hit by something, and Akito had assumed it had killed him.

Not knocked him out as it apparently had.

As the orange-haired young man had started to stand up, he'd hit the trigger from reflex while jumping. He hadn't meant to shoot him, but it had happened. Then the larger teen had fallen to the ground, now dead for real.

Swallowing the bile rising in his throat, Akito closed his eyes for a moment and tried to think about what had happened.

He'd killed the kid, but it had been by accident- it hadn't been his fault. Who was to know if he wouldn't have attacked Akito once he'd woken up? And then it could've been Akito dead, not that dead punk on the ground there.

Nodding at this rationalization, Akito shouldered his packs and grabbed the container holding the arrows as well. Standing up, he glanced around to see if anyone else had seen what had transpired. Noting no one in attendance save for the already dead blonde girl, he quietly backed away from the small hill and ran to a nearby thicket in the west.

He would survive this game. He was the head of the Sohma family, and he would survive. He always survived.

* * *

Well, that was chapter two! please R/R! (and any comments on who you think will win is most welcome) 


	3. Bulletin 3

Vash glanced back behind him as he continued to run with the brown haired girl on his arm. How long had they been running? Ten minutes? Half an hour? Glancing over at his new charge, he saw that she was breathing heavily. With a quick darting glance about the area, he nodded towards a small cave nearby. The young woman nodded, and together they made their way over. Once reaching their destination, they both collapsed onto the stone ground, Vash leaning against a heavy rock, she heavily breathing against the dirty ground.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and glanced over towards her. She was kind of pretty, in a way. In the way that he could remember Rem being pretty. Unlike Rem, though, this girl's hair was cut short, and she was shorter than her as well.

"Hey," Vash said stupidly, his exhaustion not allowing him to wax poetic.

"Hi," she answered, smiling timidly. She swallowed, then stared at him. "Thanks for coming for me. You didn't have to do that."

"You're hurt," he answered. "Speaking of which, we should check your wound." With a groan, Vash pulled himself up off the rock he'd been leaning against and dropped the pack that was still hanging on his shoulder. Opening up the green bag's zipper, he pulled out some rations, a map, a compass, then what looked like some water bottles. Unscrewing one of the tops, he nodded towards her arm.

"Let me look at that."

The girl blinked for a moment, then nodded, holding out her left arm. Vash took the bottle and let some of his water fall onto her skin, cleansing the wound, or so he hoped. He wasn't a doctor, and he didn't know how if this would work.

As he did his handiwork, the young woman glanced over at him and smiled. "Thanks. What- what's your name?"

"Vash," he answered, finishing wiping off the blood from the wound and glancing around. Looking down at the jacket he wore, he pulled one of the tapered straps that went from his waist to his ankles.

"No, you don't have to-" the girl started, but it was too late, as Vash had already ripped off a piece of the red cloth. Ignoring her protests, he wrapped the scrap around her arm and tied it.

"Thanks again. I think I'm thanking you for everything," she said with a smile. She then blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't even know my name when I know yours. I'm Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura."

"Sakura," Vash said aloud, then smiled. "That's a pretty name."

He turned away from her, hoping that she didn't see the slight warmth in his face that had seemed to rise. She looked so much like Rem, and he loved Rem... shaking his head, he tried to busy himself with looking through his pack. He pulled out some bread, a pen, a map, then finally something that glinted silver as he pulled it out. Blinking, he held it up to the little light that was coming up from the horizon.

A silver-shafted gun lay in his arms, complete with a few rounds of ammo, once he glanced back into his pack again. Vash winced. He hated, abhorred violence. Knives was the one who liked it... why wasn't he here...?

Cursing, he shook his head. No matter what Knives had done, he was still his only brother. Thinking of Knives being killed at a time like this was wrong, no matter what the cause.

"Are you all right?" Sakura asked, blinking. She saw the gun, then glanced up at his eyes. "I know... it isn't right. I hate this game, this... whatever's happening. The way that boy- what was his name-"

"Shinji," Vash answered automatically. "Ikari Shinji," he whispered. Sakura nodded sadly.

"The way that he just- the collar on his neck just-" she stopped and shook her head. "I don't like this- any of this."

"Neither do I," he said with a sigh. "But we might as well- might as well check what you've recieved." Reaching across her, Vash opened up her pack for her, knowing that she still was probably too worn out to do it herself. He pulled out her rations and water, then pulled out what looked like a set of binoculars.

"Binoculars," Sakura sighed. "That's a lot of use. Good thing I still have my key and the Sakura cards..." She pulled out a box and tugged at a chain on her neck.

"The- what?" Vash blinked, confused.

"I- well, I should probably explain-" she said with a small grin.

"Once you're done, we should probably get moving," he answered, glancing around. "I don't want to stay in one spot for too long. I saw that- people are already playing the game, and an hour hasn't even gone by..." Vash glanced aside. "I mean-"

Sakura nodded. "I understand." She then looked at the key. "Well, I guess I might as well tell you, seeing as how there's no real thing for secrecy here." Glancing around the cave for a moment, she turned her young head back towards Vash and began to speak. "The thing is, there was a man by the name of Clow..."

Toboe glanced around the area before he made his way through the foilage. He'd tried to be very careful about what he had planned to do once he'd left.

Unfortunately, seeing one of his wolf comrades sprawn on the grass before him as he exited the school cancelled his plan of meeting up with him or Kiba. Apparently no one had even noticed besides him that there was a wolf instead of a human boy in front of the school- nearby there had been another girl dead, but since there were no teeth marks on her, Toboe could only assume that Hige had not been the culprit.

His pack (which he had already checked) contained some food, water, a map, and... of all things, a pistol. It was a good thing that Toboe had seen humans use these things before, otherwise he'd be completely lost without any idea of what to do.

Glancing around quickly, he hid behind a tree. Suddenly a young man that he recognized from the classroom earlier came into his view. The silver collar on his neck was enough proof of that. With a slight smile of relief at seeing another sign of life, the young pup walked forward, holding out a hand in greeting.

The young man with the short brown hair glanced backwards, then gave what looked like a smile in greeting. Toboe grinned and ran forward, his pack swinging merrily behind him. Upon seeing his 'prey' respond in greeting, he stopped and smiled.

"I'm glad to see someone around here," Toboe smiled and told the young man. "I was so worried whenever I didn't see any of my friends around here, and then I didn't see anyone else for what seemed like ages- I'm Toboe, what's your name?"

"Heero," the young man said with a simple nod. He walked over what looked like some stones to where one could see the ocean nearby. According to Toboe's compass they were near the northern tip of the island.

Toboe continued to talk. "It's nice to meet you Heero. What are you doing here, anyways? Do you have a plan to get off this island or something?" He stopped and unhappily frowned. "I mean... I've already lost one of my comrades from home, but..."

Heero didn't say a word, but merely walked past the stones. Toboe followed him, then stopped short when he saw the boy picking up things from two very large mounds nearby. Mounds that belonged to at least two of the boys he'd seen in the classroom earlier. One wore a red-and-white hat that had an odd blue symbol on it. The other was dressed in a white shirt and had light blonde hair. Both of them were pockmarked with bloody splatters, neither of them looking as though they'd been expecting what had happened.

"What- what happened- they're- they're-" Toboe said, taking a step back as he watched Heero with large eyes.

"They're dead, yes," Heero answered. He shrugged. "Both of them tried to kill me, so I defended myself."

"But-" Toboe glanced over towards another set of rocks and blinked. A girl with reddish hair pulled into a set of buns by a pair of ribbons lay strewn across the rocks. Her body was riddled with what seemed to be still-smoking gunfire. "Did-" he nodded towards the girl. "Did she try and kill you too?"

Heero nodded. "She was with them."

Toboe blinked, then visibly paled. He was having a hard time keeping his grip on his human image. "I- I would never attack you. I don't mean to be in this game, I never wanted to be in it! I mean-I don't like killing people!"

The young man with brown hair shook his head.

"What?" Toboe asked. "Do you- do you know a way out of here? Away from this mess?"

"No, that's not it," Heero said with a grim smile. "It's just... I'm fine either way."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I'm fine with either escaping or playing the game. You see, when that girl came over and was with them... I had to make a choice. So I flipped a coin. Heads, I'd try and figure out a way to escape from here, and tails..."

"Tails?" Toboe gulped.

"I'd just play the game and become the winner." He glanced over at Toboe, who appeared as though he'd seen a ghost. The young wolf shook his head.

"No- no, no, NO! Why- I mean, why-" He started to hold out his hand, then realized it was the one that held the gun.

However, Heero was quicker.

The brown-haired youth pulled out his machine gun and let his bullets pummel into the wolf's body. Toboe felt his body jerk against the weight of the small projectiles, each of them slamming him with their weight. Blinking, he realized tears were coming out of his eyes as he fell softly to the ground.

Paradise... he could almost see it. Would Chezra be there? Hige? Kiba?

Heero only mildly blinked as he saw the human boy fall to the ground as a brownish wolf. Toboe's eyes stayed open, although their pupils were blank of sentience. Kneeling down, Heero took the pistol away from the wolf's body, then added it to the collection of weapons he'd already gathered from the other teens.

Blinking, he stood up and glanced to the east. Without a glance back, he headed towards that direction.

STUDENT(S) BOY # 8 ASH KETCHUM, # 14 TOBOE, #20 RYOU STUDENT(S) GIRL # 10 MIYAKA KILLED 34 STUDENTS REMAINING

Arima smiled as he sat with his girlfriend on the edge of a cliff overlooking the western sea. Miyazawa was laying her head on his shoulder as she held the flowers he'd picked. He had whispered for her to meet him here, at the western most part of the island, then had run to their meeting spot as soon as he could get there. On the way, he'd found a small batch of flowers growing, and had hastened to get some for her.

"It's quiet," Miyazawa said. She smiled as she looked at the ocean's edge. Lifting her head, she smiled and glanced towards him.

He smiled back and squeezed her hand. They were always so good at talking about silly stuff like this. Like just how things -were-, and not how they seemed to be. He had his weapon, a .38 holster, in the back of his belt, but now that he'd made it here, to her, he knew he wouldn't have to use it.

"Yes it is," he agreed with a smile. "It's too bad we can't..." he sighed. "I mean, I want to get away from all this. I don't understand why we were chosen... I mean, I never heard of this before now."

Miyazawa was quiet for a moment, but then she spoke softly. "I have."

"You have? When- why- how did it-"

"It was in elementary school," she said quietly. "It was on the news... I remember. They said some kid named 'Jubei-chan' had been dispatched for the 'good of the country'. They honored her as a hero and everything, but I never really understood what was going on. The news reporter..." she glanced aside. "Well, it showed her father and these two boys... they kept crying to the guards, but they wouldn't give her back. They shot the father right on the spot for disobeying."

"What- then there's-" Arima didn't finish his statement, knowing that she knew what he was thinking. They'd only just recently been together as lovers, but it seemed as though they were more soulmates at times than partners in a relationship.

"None," Miyazawa said quietly. "No hope."

"That-" he started quietly. "That had to be hard on you, seeing that as a kid."

Miyazawa smiled and glanced at him. "You're so silly. But so kind. That's what I love about you. You're so kind and so smart at the same time." She paused and sighed.

"Horrible things... are going to happen," she said quietly. "I heard gunshots a while ago, from far away. People are actually playing this game to win, which means they're killing people. People are dying."

"That's true," Arima said quietly. "But... we aren't playing," he smiled encouragingly.

"No," Miyazawa said with a warm-hearted smile. "We aren't." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, a tender kiss with all of her gentle warmth behind it. Even though at one point they had been at odds on school turf, you could have hardly have seen it from the kindness that flowed through her.

Arima smiled and kissed her back with just as much emotion. When they finally let go enough to breathe, there was a rustling sound in the bushes behind them. He smiled into Miyazawa's eyes and took her by both hands just as she took him by his.

He felt as though his heart would burst. He could stay there and fight off their attacker. He could probably even defeat the person. But that is not what Miyazawa wanted. She wanted to not be part of this game, to not be part of the massacre that was coming. For that, then, he would take his life with hers, so that she would not die alone without him. If he could've spoken at that moment, he would have said that he had "died for her love."

Their bodies seemed to intertwine as they jumped off the cliff, both their hands still embracing each others'.

Ami Mizuno blinked as she popped her head out from the bushes. She had no intention of hurting anyone; the only thing she wanted was to meet up with her friends. So she felt astonished when she witnessed two of the people from the classroom jumping off the cliff. She stared with her mouth open wide until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she glanced back at her friend Rei, whom she'd found in the woods earlier.

"Ami... what's wrong?" she asked the blue-haired girl.

Ami didn't say a word. She was trembling.

STUDENT(S) BOY #1 SOUICHIROU, ARIMA STUDENT(S) GIRL #11 YUKINO, MIYAZAWA KILLED 32 STUDENTS REMAINING

Skuld hugged her knees to herself as she sat. She'd found a nearby abandoned house as soon as she'd been ushered out of the school building, then had panicked upon seeing the dead wolf's body as well as the girl's. The young goddess let out a muffled sob as she tried to make herself feel safe by curling against the bed she lay on.

It was almost four in the morning, if her calculations (which were almost never wrong) were correct. Belldandy, Urd, and Keiichi would probably (by now) know that she was missing. She wanted to cry at the memory of them. She wished even stupid Urd were here at the moment so that she could yell at her for letting herself be taken from under their noses.

She remembered going into this area... there had apparently been some people living on the island, as there had been a score of houses lined up. Skuld had gone to the first and second houses, only to find that they had been locked up. She could've picked them open with no sweat, but she didn't feel that giving away such obvious signs of 'someone was here' would be a good idea. So, she'd gone until she'd found a house that was unlocked.

Once she'd been inside, she'd set up a small perimeter of warning signs using some string she'd found. She had foraged through a lot of the machines inside the house (how DID these people LIVE without the internet?) and had also managed to make other various forms of warning signs in the shape of little mecha that she'd assigned to act as watchdogs about the house.

For as little materials as she'd had, Skuld had to pat herself on the back. She was doing pretty well, considering everything.

She pulled out the weapon she'd been assigned from the pack. A small dagger. How... quaint. Skuld had used it mostly for tinkering, seeing as how she didn't have most of her regular tools on her. Despite this, the blade was still quite sharp. Calling on her inner holy strength, she pulled forth Noble Scarlet to keep her company.

The little angel heeded her mistress, coming out to stare at Skuld with large, wide eyes. Skuld gave the little holy servant a small smile.

"It'll be all right," She assured Scarlet, nodding for emphasis.

Scarlet grinned back at her, nodding her head as well.

It was just then that Skuld heard a creak outside the room that she was hiding at. Sending a signal through the small controller she had, she checked on her observational gadgetry. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that none of them were responding.

"Crap," Skuld said quietly. She glanced back at Noble Scarlet before picking up the knife she'd been given and hid back behind the sheets in the hope that the newcomer would not notice her presence. Holding her breath as long as she could, she dared to take a shallow breath.

Just then one of her wire-traps went off and Skuld's eyes flew to the direction in which the noise came from. Glancing over, she saw a scared-looking young woman with brown hair. Both sides of her head held the hair into two almost-handle like contraptions with dark scarlet ribbon, and the gown she wore seemed to make more of her slender frame than it actually was.

"Is- is anyone here?" the girl called out. Skuld sighed with relief, seeing that the young woman was not armed, but only carrying the pack she'd been given. She nodded to Noble Scarlet, who had proceeded to hide behind her mistress's back.

"I- I'm here," Skuld said quietly. The young woman turned her head to look at the young goddess and let out a long breath of air. She dropped her bag to the floor and smiled at the dark-haired teen.

"Thank goodness. I went all over, trying to find someone. But when I came near, they all ran away."

"Probably afraid that you're going to participate," Skuld said. She cleared off a part of the bed and made room for her new guest, giving as big a grin as she could muster. The other girl also smiled, then pulled a set of antiquitated glasses from a side pocket in her long brown trenchcoat. She sat down and nodded. Skuld continued to move aside, then blinked when her hand pulled out the knife she'd been given.

"Oh," Skuld said, bringing out the weapon. "Sorry. I just- I forgot I had it there. I got this knife. Stupid weapon, huh?"

It was then that Noble Scarlet came out of hiding. The new arrival blinked. "Well. I didn't see her in there-"

"Oh, sorry," Skuld apologized. "This is Noble Scarlet. She's my personal angel."

"Personal angel?" The girl seemed confused. "What- like a guardian angel or something?"

"Not quite," the younger teen answered. "She serves me." Skuld smiled. "I'm a goddess."

"A goddess. Really?" The girl's green eyes seemed to flicker for a moment.

"Yep! My name's Skuld, Goddess Second Class! I have a sister who's a first class Goddess, but she and my other sister Urd are still at home..." She looked so hurt that the other girl offered her arms to her. Skuld, feeling as though she might burst if she didn't cry her sorrows out, leaned against the girl and started to cry.

"Thank you," she sniffed. "You're so kind. What's your name?" she asked.

"Robin," the girl smiled. It was just then that Skuld heard a noise like a vegetable skin being cut in the air. She blinked, then only realized then that there was warmth leaving her neck. In a few seconds, she fell into Robin's lap, dead. Noble Scarlet pulled at her own throat before disappearing into thin air.

"Silly girl," Robin smiled as she brushed the younger girl's hair with her hand. "Don't you know there is only one God?"

Gently as she could, she laid out the younger teen onto the bed, crossing her arms over her chest in an image of peace. It was then that Robin picked up the sickle she'd used. She hadn't used her flames yet because she was hoping to have this blamed on another 'student' on the island. Robin Sena did not want any blame for this if she could help it.

She'd never asked to be in this silly game. However... Amon and the others were depending on her. Depending on her to come back alive so that she could continue her work with them in finding the rogue witches. And she had too much to live for now. If it meant swallowing the horrible feeling she got when she had to kill someone else... then for now, it'd be good enough.

Wiping off the sickle's blood on the bedsheets, Robin picked up Skuld's knife and glanced around. This house would do. Taking off her jacket, she started to ready her things for a mid-day rest.

STUDENT(S) GIRL #16 SKULD DEAD 31 STUDENTS REMAINING

Vash glanced around after digesting what Sakura had said. So she, like him, was a follower of 'Love and Peace', a credo taught to him by his precious Rem. She had fought many battles to save those she loved, but at a price of her own childhood being shortened with the burdens of responsibility that she had never asked for.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked her companion, who was worrying her in his silence to her confessions.

"Yeah," Vash answered, giving her a smile. "It's just... I don't know if I could do everything you've done. You've been through so much."

Sakura was quiet for a moment, but then she smiled. "I'm sure you could. You don't seem like the kind to abandon people in need. Look at me, for example. You could have just not done anything for me, but instead, you went out of your way to help me. I think you could do it, if given the choice."

Vash smiled slightly, her simple words echoing into his heart. He then sighed.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked, blinking at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... what are we going to do now? You're getting better, obviously, but there are people actually -participating- in this sick game. What are we supposed to do? There can only be one winner, as our -Teacher-" he said the word with some disgust, "was quite kind to point out..."

"Well... I mean... I don't want to die... but I don't want to commit suicide, either-"

"Suicide's not an option," Vash said quietly. "It's... I highly disapprove of it." He and she sat there in silence for a moment, then he continued. "And I don't like killing, either. It's- it's just wrong."

"So what do we do?" Sakura asked. "If we can't... I don't want to kill, either. It's not right. I just can't- I can't kill anyone- not even the Cards are meant to be used to kill people, and I don't want to die..."

She started to tear up, and it was then that Vash regretted ever having brought up the subject. He shook his head, then sighed, glancing over at her. Tears were starting to go down her cheeks, and he grimaced. Holding out a hand, he grabbed one of hers and held it in his palm. Sakura turned her face upwards to look into his eyes.

"Look. We don't have to kill. We don't have to commit suicide. I'm sure there's some way out of this game that we just haven't thought of yet. There has to be -some- way of getting out of this besides killing everyone, right? We just haven't thought of it yet."

"Vash..." Sakura smiled through her tears. "Do you- do you really think so?"

"I do," Vash nodded encouragingly. "There -has- to be another way. There just -has- to be. Otherwise..." He shook his head. "No otherwise. We just have to find the other way." He glanced out of the enclosure they'd found and looked back at Sakura.

"In the meantime, we should get out of here. Maybe to another spot. That's what I think we should do. That is, if you trust my decision," he said, glancing up at Sakura.

Sakura nodded. "That makes sense. It wouldn't do much good to stay in one spot if people are busy..." she stopped, not wanting to say 'killing', "trying to find each other," she supplemented. She stood up, and Vash gave her a strange look. "Yes?"

"I- I was just wondering. Why do you trust me?"

"You helped me."

"Yes, but anyone could have helped you. Haven't you even considered that I could be like-" he started to mouth out 'Knives', but knew it'd be no use. She had no idea who he was, nor what he'd done to almost all of humanity on the SEEDS ship. "-like one of those people who's participating?"

Sakura paused for a moment as he stood up, but shook her head.

"No, I trust you. You don't have a bad soul, and I'm usually a good judge of these things. You're kind, you're honest... You don't seem to be capable of participating in this thing. So I guess- I guess that's why I trust you."

"What about that boy that you came with? Can you trust him?" Vash pressed, pulling his pack over his shoulder. He took the gun that he'd recieved as his weapon and placed it into a holding strap that was conveniently located on his right hip.

"Li? We can trust him. If we can find him-" she said, glancing out to the distance. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is," Vash said, helping her with her own bag, then glancing outside. Seeing no one about, he offered her a hand in getting out of the stone enclosure, then watched his own footing as they made their way south on a rocky slope. They were about halfway down when a loud blaring noise stopped them in their tracks.

"GOOD MORNING!"

Sakura held her ears for a moment, wincing, then glanced at Vash, who shrugged. The voice continued.

"Hello, all my wonderful students! This is your Instructor Alucard. How are you all doing?"

Vash groaned. Alucard. It figured. Damn teacher.

"It's about six in the morning, so, I'm going to start announcing who has already died today. First, there is Male #3, Hige."

Sakura and Vash glanced at each other for a moment, but then Vash remembered the slightly stout young man who'd cried "Here" when his name had been called first. His hands clenched into fists.

"Next, Males # 8 Ash Ketchum, # 14 Toboe, #20 Ryou, #1 Arima Souichirou. Then the girls, # 8 Usagi Tsukino, #10 Miyaka, #11 Miyazawa Yukino, and #16 Skuld.

Sakura's head felt like it was in a daze, hearing so many people's names on those that had died. She remembered the faces of some of the people; the girl Miyazawa stuck out expecially... the tears that had been streaming down her face as she'd left her boyfriend behind.

"Good going everyone! I'm so happy to see that we've got a good headstart so far! That still leaves you all with a great deal of competition, though, so be on your toes, everyone!"

Vash paled at the word "competition".

"And here are the danger zones for the next couple of hours. In one hour, section K-13 will be a danger zone. In three hours, B-4. In five hours, G-10. Remember those numbers, and I'll talk to you kids again in six hours! Good luck and goodbye!"

Vash and Sakura looked at each other for a moment before biting their lips. This did not look good.


End file.
